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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789546">Dog days are over</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianlexie/pseuds/lesbianlexie'>lesbianlexie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Grey's Anatomy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Injury, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, anti derek shepherd, tw doc dies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:54:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,082</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianlexie/pseuds/lesbianlexie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Set mid-season 2. Meredith and Addison take Doc for a walk. Things just kind of evolve from there.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Meredith Grey/Addison Montgomery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>122</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryleewrites/gifts">ryleewrites</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>1. finn simply Does Not Exist </p><p>2. if there's anything you don't like about this fic i want you to know that i can accept zero criticism right now and am therefore asking you to Pretend You Do Not See it</p><p>3. hope you enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Okay, this is totally not weird or anything, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Meredith thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because it wasn't. Because this wasn't a date. Well, technically it was, but not a romantic one. It was a dog-walking date. Because although Doc was living with Derek and Addison, they had agreed to a shared custody.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Meredith was capable of sharing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(Although, she wasn't sure she should be thinking about "sharing" anything in relation to Derek. That would be super weird.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, she shrugged on a brown turtleneck and threw her hair into a ponytail, grabbed her keys and got in the car. For a 20 minute drive to her adulterous ex-boyfriend's and his adulterous ex </span>
  <span>(?) wife's trailer in the middle of nowhere, to walk their shared-custody dog. Because she was Meredith Grey, and because apparently that's what surgical interns did on their free days. Because that wasn't weird or anything.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she arrived at the site, the first thing she noticed was that Derek's car was gone. Had there been an emergency case? She checked her phone - nothing, except for two missed calls from Roseridge and a spam SMS. Had he forgotten about her? Erm, about Doc.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as she was about to call Derek, she noticed a tall figure emerging from the trailer. Addison, clad in a dark blue sweater blouse and a tight-fitting skirt, was looking and waving at her with that usual uncertain but genuine smile, one that made Meredith want to smile back, though she rarely did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hi," She said as the car door shut behind her with a loud thud.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison nodded hello, crossing her arms. "Hey, uh, Derek got called in for an emergency neuro consult, so…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh," Meredith said and nodded too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Should we wait for him, or…?" Addison asked, raising her eyebrows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith looked to the side and reflected. "A neuro consult can take hours…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I know that very well, Doctor Grey, Which is why I'm asking you what we should do," Addison snarled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taken aback by the unexpected harshness of the other woman's tone, Meredith rocked onto her toes and back, seemingly uncomfortable with the sudden change in climate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison felt a pang to her chest as she realized she had just snapped at the younger woman for something she absolutely had nothing to do with - She did, in a way. In the way that everything related to Derek was also related to Meredith, but that wasn't the point - and made her face have that sullen kicked puppy look that Addison was certain drove all the guys insane.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, it's been a really long day, I'm tired" she sighed, but it sounded more defeated than irritated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Let's just, take Doc for his walk," Meredith suggested, clearly wanting this to get this over with quickly and painlessly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison agreed, opening the door to the trailer. As expected, Doc stormed out within a millisecond.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey Doc, hi," Meredith bent down and greeted him, and Doc licked her nose as a "Hi back".</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doc ran up the hill and they trekked after him in relative silence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So, Meredith," Addison started in an effort to make normal and not-weird small talk. "Do you know what speciality you're gonna choose yet?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith shrugged timidly. "I have no idea."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Think you might be interested in Neonatal?" Addison teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I really don't know."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison chuckled, though not in an ill-intentioned way. "It's okay, you're an intern. Still plenty of time to figure it out."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Meredith said, because this was awkward and she was lame, because she never had any friends in school and thus never learned proper conversational etiquette. And because it was true.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How did you know?" she asked after a beat, looking up at Addison. "I mean, that you wanted to go into Neonatal, how did you know?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I was in med school, a freshman, and the professor was telling us about this case…" she started and went on to talk about the case of Gemma Olsen, a 32-year old woman pregnant with quadruplets, and then went on a ramble about how domestic abuse affects hormones during pregnancy, the importance of positive doctor-patient relationships and lastly the many defects of the American healthcare system.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh," was all Meredith replied when she was finished because </span>
  <em>
    <span>wow, the woman could talk.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry, you probably expected a two-sentence answer," Addison said, embarrassed at the realization that she'd talked so much they'd arrived at the trailer again. "Derek always gets annoyed because of how intense I am about these things."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's fine," Meredith assured honestly, "and I wouldn't be annoyed. In fact, I'd be proud."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At this point Addison perked up. "Proud?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, if my wife was as diligent and caring…" Meredith reasoned, but realized just how wrong that sounded as soon as the words had left her mouth. Addison was looking at her with a grin and she could feel her ears heating up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I mean, not my- and not that you're- I just meant, if it were me in his place, I would be… proud." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Okay, so that was kind of a fail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Addison's mocking smile was now replaced by a genuine one, and her eyes were all warm and kind and the skin around them crinkled in the way it always did when she smiled like this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thank you, Meredith," she said with a look that could almost be described as affectionate emerging below long eyelashes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith smiled back.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two weeks later, they were supposed to walk Doc together, again, and Derek didn't show up, again. </span>
  <span>Last minute craniotomy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Which was a lie, and they both knew it. Things with Derek were just weird. There was tension and averting eyes and awkward coughing in elevators and neither of them would admit it, but they were both thankful that he wasn't here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm really sorry for snapping at you the way I did, the other day," Addison said as they passed the nearby gas station.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's okay," Meredith dismissed. It had been uncalled for and she had felt a bit hurt - but only for a moment. It was basically nothing. Plus, it wasn't like being an intern left you with a lot of time for pettiness. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, I- you shouldn't have had to deal with that, not when we're- It's just, Derek and I had a fight, and I was very frustrated. But it was wrong to take that out on you. So, I'm sorry," Addison explained sincerely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's okay, really," Meredith said again, earnestly, because she could understand that, and because she wasn't really used to getting apologies and didn't know what else to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can I help? Do you want to talk about it?,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she wanted to ask, but refrained from doing so. Because counselling her adulterous ex boyfriend's adulterous ex (?) wife about their marriage problems partly caused by her, now </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> would be weird.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Do you… wanna come in?", was what she decided to ask instead when they'd arrived back to the frat house. "Izzie and I made cookies - well, I guess I should say, Izzie made cookies, all I did was put too much flour and spill some of the chocolate chips," she recounted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison gave a chuckle. "Sure, I'd love to."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(Once inside, Meredith brought a tray of chocolate chip cookies over to the couch, gesturing for Addison to follow her. They ate while talking about everything that came to mind - neither of them knew exactly how they went from "Pink is actually my favorite color" and "I backpacked my way through Europe for three years" -</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>to "Derek was loving, at first" and "She's not gone yet, technically, and to be honest she wasn't even really here in the first place, but I miss my mom".</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>These things, as weird as they were, they just kind of happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was dark outside when Meredith walked Addison to her car.)</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next time, they didn't even think of inviting Derek. He was probably at the hospital anyway, or at Joe's, same difference.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a cold Sunday evening when Addison and Meredith were taking Doc on a walk in a part of the forest they hadn't explored yet. They kept him on a leash, for a change, because Meredith was overprotective and had insisted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I just really love him," she had said, slightly defensive, but thankfully Addison hadn't minded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Meredith had only set down the leash for like four seconds - she </span>
  <em>
    <span>swore</span>
  </em>
  <span> - when she crouched down to tie her shoelaces, and Addison was too busy admiring the snow and just like that, Doc was gone, running off after some poor soul of an animal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the dark. In a part of the forest neither of them knew, but a part that - and this Meredith was pretty sure about - was very close to the highway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leaving her shoes untied, she started sprinting as fast as her feet would carry her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"DOC! PLEASE, STOP! SIT! DOC! DOC!", she screamed, but Doc had already put at least a 40 feet distance between them. There was a hill, Doc ran down the hill, it was too dark and Doc was too fast so she couldn't see him right now but she was pretty sure he had run down that hill and she was also pretty sure she could hear cars so if she could just run a little faster-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"DOC! DOC! SIT! PLEASE, DOC! PLEA- </span>
  <em>
    <span>AAAH</span>
  </em>
  <span>!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had arrived at the bottom of the hill, was the first thing she registered. That was good, because- because she had just saved like ten seconds by falling so she just needed to get up and-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ouch," she whimpered, reaching down to touch her legs. Her jeans were pretty much torn apart, as was most of the skin on her knees and a lesser yet very much considerable part of her legs and hands was bloody. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It looked - a little bit gross. And it hurt like hell, but she was an adult, and a surgeon, for heaven's sake, she should be able to handle-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Meredith!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There were hands gripping her shoulder and pulling her into a hug - Addison, Addison was pulling her into a hug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That was a very big fall, sweetie, are you okay? Oh- your legs, let me see-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doc, where is Doc, I have to find-" Meredith shook her head and stood up on shaky knees, supported by Addison's grip on her arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison eyed her with concern. "Okay, let's just take a moment to calm down, and-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"DOC!" Meredith yelled when she thought she had heard him and started running towards the sound, Addison right behind her. "DOC!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"DOC!" Finally, he came sprinting towards them, with sticks and mud coating his fur.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doc," Meredith sighed, dropping to her knees and wrapping him into her arms. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn't realize that she had been crying, or that Addison had caught up too, until the latter was wrapping her into her arms as well and softly saying words Meredith's brain didn't register.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doc was okay. Doc was safe. Anything else could be dealt with later.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wasn't sure how they had made it back to the trailer, but eventually, they had.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison guided her to the bed, hands still gripping her elbow. "Can you take off your pants?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You could buy me a drink first," Meredith replied shakily but complied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She started to peel off her jeans and Addison turned around in an attempt to give her some privacy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison was a gynecologist - and a woman - so it wasn't like it was anything she hadn't seen before, so Meredith wasn't sure what that was about, but she appreciated the sentiment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Here, put this on and then I'll take a look at your knees," Addison instructed, throwing a pair of pink pajama shorts in Meredith's direction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fabric of the shorts was soft against her bruised skin - she tried not to get any blood on them - and they were a little loose around the waist. They were cosy, and well worn. (</span>
  <em>
    <span>By Addison, </span>
  </em>
  <span>her brain added automatically, which for some reason felt more comforting than weird.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison turned back around. She went and got out a box of medical supplies that she kept in the bathroom, apparently, because she was a doctor and a responsible person, so it shouldn't have surprised Meredith that much.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knelt down and inspected Meredith's knees closely before taking a wet washcloth and slowly running it over the bloody spots. She worked gently but pointedly, trained fingers making sure not to leave a single scratch unattended.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"This is gonna burn a little bit," Addison warned before moving on to disinfect the wounds. It did burn, more than a little bit, frankly, but Meredith clenched her jaw shut to avoid any hisses or whimpers to escape. She had tumbled down a hill in the dead cold winter, she could take some saline solution on a gauze pad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Closing her eyes, she tried to focus more on the next steps. She felt her legs being toweled off and bandaged, her knees dried and - </span>
  <em>
    <span>kissed?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes flew open and shot towards Addison. The latter smiled sheepishly up at her, explaining, "My brother used to kiss my knees too when I fell. He said it would make the wounds heal faster."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith giggled. "If you say so, Dr. Montgomery."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course, she would never admit it, but it did feel nice, although logically she knew it was a simple placebo effect. It felt - intimate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Do you think your elbow might be broken?" Addison asked softly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"N-No it was, mostly just my legs that took all the…" Meredith answered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alright. You didn't hit your head, did you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison got up and sat down on the bed next to her, inspecting her closely. "Okay, well, if you start to feel dizzy, or disoriented, or nauseous-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll go to Derek," Meredith tried to joke, but winced as soon as she did. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Right," was all Addison said, the mood clearly ruined because of Meredith's not-joke. Because she just had to ruin everything that was good and nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because </span>
  <em>
    <span>Derek </span>
  </em>
  <span>just had to ruin everything that was good and nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry Addison, I didn't-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's okay," Addison said with a tight smile. "I know what you meant."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Okay," Meredith nodded uncertainly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison nodded too. And Doc contributed a "woof".</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can we just go back to thirty seconds ago and pretend I didn't say that and make this a hundred times more awkward?" Meredith tried, and regretted it as soon as she did. Addison would probably hate her now, she'd snap again and berate her for being so untactful and bringing up Derek when they're in the middle of - what, exactly?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Deal," Addison replied, and there was that smile again, the genuine one that made Meredith feel all kinds of fuzzy and the anxiety in her chest eased a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith smiled back again, and their eyes locked, and it was like the world around them just shut off for a moment. Like it was just them in their little bubble, all soft pajama shorts and pure bliss.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then the moment was over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's late, I should, get going-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah that's-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"See you-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"At work, yeah-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wait what about-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You can keep the, the shorts, I have, another pair like this, so-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Okay I- yeah Thanks."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"S-sure, yeah."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith quickly put on her shoes and grabbed the remains of her jeans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thankyoubye!" she called out before slamming the door shut and sprinting to her car and pressing on the gas as hard as a bank robber.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Inside the trailer, Addison started at the door for a second before collapsing onto the bed. She slapped herself and, covering her face with both hands, let out a groan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Every time Meredith closed her eyes to try to get at least a few hours of sleep, that… encounter with Addison shot through her brain, along with that question that was more of a statement. Because what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> fuck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn't that things in the hospital had gotten weird between them - they hadn't. On the rare occasions they were assigned a case together, they managed to work as a professional, well-rounded team. It came naturally, since Dr. Montgomery asked deliberate questions, gave clear instructions and taught strictly but fairly. And Meredith was a capable intern. (If she studied a bit more every time she knew she'd be working with Addison, it was because she was just </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> diligent and she had a reputation to uphold.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But that was exactly it - the fact that things hadn't gotten weird between them, but the implication that they should have.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Should they have?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No, that was just crazy. Clearly, Meredith was making this out to be something it wasn't. Which was something she was really good at, overthinking every single detail. Which is probably why she was a good surgeon. But it was an exhausting trait to have as a person.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She let out a sigh and texted Cristina to meet her at Joe's in 10.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And I just don't know what to do… I mean, things shouldn’t be weird, right? We went for a walk, with Doc, and I fell, and she patched me up because- because she's a doctor! And then she kissed my knees because her brother claimed it would help or whatever. Which was… sweet. And a little weird. But not that weird, right?" Meredith rambled. "What's sort of weird is that I sort of want her to do it again," she added as an afterthought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Meredith," Cristina pinched the bridge of her nose. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Mmhm.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Are you… saying that… you… have a crush on the She-Shepherd"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith choked on her tequila.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison was at Joe's that night because Derek and her had gotten into a fight. Addison was at Joe's every night because Derek and her got into a fight every night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith was there too, she noticed, together with Yang. Addison was sitting too far away to hear what they were saying, but Meredith was talking animatedly, they laughed, Meredith made some uncoordinated gestures with her hands, and then they laughed even more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison felt a pang of jealousy shooting through her chest. She wished it would be her, talking to Meredith, making her laugh and-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hold on. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jealousy?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yang was more than likely just a friend, if the gossip surrounding her and Dr. Burke was anything to go by, Addison quickly reasoned with herself - but why did it matter?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn't. Because it's not like she had a crush on Meredith. Or anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yeah. Right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>(Fuck.)</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>An hour and a half later, after Joe had refused to let Meredith drive and called her a cab, and Meredith had taken a shower and collapsed into bed and dozed off, her phone rang.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was Derek. Ugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm not on call tonight so this better be good," she growled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Meredith, it's Addison," the voice on the other end said. "The vet just called. It's about Doc."</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doc died three days after Addison had made that call.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wasn't in any pain when he died, Meredith knew that because the vet had said it and because she understood the science behind narcotics perfectly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was an old dog. Old dogs got sick. It was to be expected.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck,</span>
  </em>
  <span> that did not make it any easier at all. Because Meredith had </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>loved that dog.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So she held his paw while he fell asleep and Addison pet his head. Derek was… also there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll give you some time to say goodbye now. My condolences. I'm sure he was a great dog," the vet said and quietly left the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That's when Meredith lost it. The fact that two people she would have to see every day after this were also there was the last thing on her mind right now. There wasn't anything she could think of besides the fact that she had just lost her friend. All she could do was hold on to his paw, and cry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Derek, should we maybe give her some space…" Addison suggested softly, her voice full of emotion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Derek was having none of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're not seriously crying over a dog, are you?" he scolded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" Meredith looked up with tears streaming down her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> "Derek!" Addison exclaimed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She barely even had the dog! If there was someone that should be crying right now, it's us!" Derek continued to yell and Meredith flinched. "Besides, it's just a fucking dog, it's not like it had feelings or- or even knew what it-" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh my god, Derek, just shut up!" It was Addison who yelled this time. Which surprised Meredith because Addison was always so composed, she'd never heard her yell, but it surprised Derek too because - </span>
  <em>
    <span>excuse you? What the fuck did you just say to me?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Just shut the fuck up, Derek! Leave us alone and just- just shut up!"</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They had agreed to take things slowly, for both their sake. There was a lot of talking, more than Meredith was comfortable with at first. Stolen glances and quick kisses in the hospital, with the occasional dirty talk in quiet hallways and semi public hookups. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was sex - a lot of sex. Very good sex, too, seeing as Meredith was ambidextrous, and Addison literally had a PhD on the female anatomy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>(A thousand times better than Derek,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Meredith had said once, and Addison had agreed.) </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a lot of listening, which Meredith was good at. Addison was often the one to dominate a conversation, rambling about one of her current cases or Alex's incompetence or reality tv. Meredith listened attentively, making sure to always make comments or inquire further about a certain topic, because she was interested in what Addison had to share, because she cared. And because she loved the way Addison's eyes shone and her smile widened every time she did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>(There was silence, sometimes, when they were too exhausted by the hospital's relentless hours to form a coherent sentence. At those times they would order takeout and eat it on the couch, and Meredith would snuggle into Addison's side or Addison would rest her head on Meredith's lap and drift to sleep with Ellis Grey's surgical tapes in the background.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There were sleepovers and slow mornings and cooking together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>("Wanna take a walk later?", Addison asked, stirring the bowl of pancake batter in front of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Standing on her tiptoes so she could rest her chin on Addison's shoulder, Meredith wrapped her arms around her from behind and hummed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison leaned into the hug happily. "Hungry?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith just hummed again and Addison turned around halfway to look at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is everything okay?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Mh- yeah, I, yeah, it's nothing," Meredith mumbled and stepped away from the contact.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Addison followed. "Hey, no- hey! Tell me what's wrong. Please."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith shrugged, looking to the side. "I miss Doc."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh, sweetie-" Addison started and reached out to pull her back into a hug, but Meredith made a noise of disapproval so Addison asked her if she wanted to stir the batter instead, to which she happily agreed.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had also agreed not to fight, ever, also for both their sake. They knew there would be arguments at some point, but they established steps, rules to keep them from getting too heated, because they were women, for god's sake, and they were capable of having civilized discussions. And if that meant taking a break and running a lap around the house or driving to the hospital to smash some splints first, then that's simply what needed to be done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And yeah, dating your adulterous ex boyfriend's adulterous ex wife was definitely weird. Especially when you were an intern and the adulterous ex wife was an attending in the same hospital. But Meredith - known otherwise as daughter of Ellis Grey, professional homewrecker, unstable bitch that sleeps with attendings and sticks Hello Kitty bandaids on her forehead - was sort of used to being the center of attention. And Addison was a quick study, so Meredith was sure she'd get used to it, too.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Your wounds have healed? Nothing hurts anymore?," Addison asked one evening while Meredith was changing into a pair of pink pajama shorts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, well, I was treated by an amazing Doctor," Meredith responded, to which Addison gave an overdramatic </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why, thank you</span>
  </em>
  <span> gesture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meredith flopped down on the bed. "Plus the kisses really helped."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They did, didn't they," Addison cooed and, smiling softly at the memory, kissed a giggling Meredith.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>okk so this is it, hope y'all liked it, pls leave a comment down below and subscribe to my channel i'm running out of mobile data and will respond to your lovely (&lt;333 !!!!) comments later thank you so much goodbye !!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>btw if you're a meddison shipper and we're twitter moots, i probably already have a wip in mind that i wanna gift to you, but wips take time plus i won't have any wifi next week (press f) so please be patient with me! also if you would like a gift but we're not twitter moots, feel free to leave a prompt and i'll see what i can do !! :))</p></blockquote></div></div>
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